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My water is too hard help

2K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  robbob2112 
#1 ·
ok, so my tds is around 370ppm so that gives me a GH around 20degrees.

i did a water change with distilled water of a bout 7 gal on my 20 gal last week and the GH has stayed around there. thank goodness. before the water change my ppm was around 500+

i want to lower my gh even further cause my plants arnt really growing.

the things is, i made the mistake of having a substrate with crushed coral in it. around 2-3 lbs of it. not alot but it's also mixed in with some questionable sand substrate (might have crushed coral in it too). but it's all covered by a mixture of flourite and SMS.

my thinking is that because of the layered way i have my substrate, it's limiting the amount of calcium carbonate that's leaching into the water.(thank goodness again) i use to use the ugf but i stopped that once i realized my GH was so high. i will probaly seal it off even further with another layer of substrate. i like having alot of substrate haha.

but my question is, should i add peatmoss to my filtration system to further help lower my KH? i know to do it gradually so im asking for some advice on how i should do this. thanks guys, great forum.
 
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#3 ·
I have similar water paramaters as you.
GH 23
KH 11
Tap PH is 8

I use co2 injection, EI fertilization and 2.9 WPG of lighting and my plants grow like weeds. The only plant that does not grow fast so far is Rotala Indica. I think messing around with the water is going to be a hassle.

If the GH is caused by the crushed coral, I would change out the substrate, and leave the water alone.
 
#4 ·
GH isn't the problem. KH is. You should be looking at creating an acidic substrate (no crushed coral) and acidic water. While you can grow many plants in a substrate that doesn't promote acidic conditions (i.e., what you have and Seachem's Onyx), it's much more difficult. I've been there and done that. You'll need to pump CO2 into that tank like crazy.

You could help things greatly by using 100% RO water. The crushed coral will buffer the water a bit, but I think you'll find it a huge improvement. You also might find your plants will melt, so be forewarned when radically shifting the KH value of your water. Buy an RO unit on ebay (aquasafesystems I think). I have one and it works extremely well for not only my aquarium, but my coffee as well!
 
#6 ·
RO water won't do the trick. You need to pull out the substrate. Otherwise, you'll have softer water after a WC, but it'll just rise again w/in the next week or so b/c of the coral--and you can't seal off the coral w/ other substrate btw. At least in my experience. Anyway, using RO water for your WCs will cause constant hardness fluctuations which are very hard on your fish.
 
#8 ·
Doing 100% RO will cause wild variations in your water chemistry, since as the RO water hits the coral, or anything else in the tank for that matter, it will start to leach like crazy. Your KH and GH will likely be flying all over the place. Not a healthy scenario for plants or fish. Better to just remove the substrate, and if you really need to decrease hardness, use a layer of peat or add peat to the filtration. I say this as someone who's tap water is nearly RO - with near 0 KH and GH. Keeping tank parameters stable when doing water changes becomes a challenge, even with just a sand substrate that leaches very little KH and GH over time, I've lost more than a few fish due to this issue. In the tank with the sand substrate I don't dare change more than 25% of the water at any given time, because adding the 0 KH water to the 3 or 4 degree KH tank, causes major fluctuations when too much water is changed.
 
#9 ·
You can spend a fortune on equipment, media, test kits, and replacement plants and fish -OR- you can bite the bullet and fix the actual problem: the substrate.

Sure, it'll be a big mess. It'll cost a few bucks. It'll be hard to let go of the substrate you've already bought and layered on top of the problem substrate. But that's what happens when you attempt to throw a "quick fix" over a problem instead of actually fixing the problem itself. The problem remains while the "quick fixes" are neither quick nor a fix.

The path you're on is a dead end. It's far better to have hard water that's very stable than to have any other water that bounces all over the place. Don't go there.

Stop right now and fix the actual problem. You'll be very glad you did in the long run, and so will your plants and fish.
 
#11 ·
I don't even remember what my kH is, but my pH is a very stable 8.0.

I'm currently enjoying my cardinal tetras, red cherry shrimp, lots of amano shrimp, pygmy rasboras, chain loaches, apistogrammas, a blue german ram, and much more. Not a problem here, either!

Stable water is the way to go.
 
#13 ·
I am on well water... liquid rock comes out of the tap... very very hard both GH and KH are well off the test strips... with drops I can measure it.... anyway point is most fish can and will adjust to whatever your water is..as long as the PH is stable... I grow most plants like crazy as well....

The moral is, why fight GH, KH, and PH... just choose plants and fish that are happy in hard water...

The coral substrate might be a problem if it causes the PH to change... if that is the case it has to come out.
 
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